reed (redirected from common reed)

reed, name used for several plants of the family Graminae (grass family). The common American reed, also called reedgrass and canegrass, is a tall perennial grass (Phragmites australis), widely distributed in fresh or brackish wet places. It has stout, creeping rootstalks and a large plumelike panicle. In the SW United States this grass is called carrizo and is used in building adobe huts; it has also been used for thatching and cordage. Native Americans collected a sweet exudate from the plant and made arrows of the stalks. The leaves served as edible greens and the seeds as a cereal food. Due in part to the degradation of salt marshes and in part to the supplanting of the native P. australis by a Eurasian variety, the reed has become invasive in American wetlands, where it often forms a monoculture. The giant reed (Arundo donax), of similar appearance, is native to the Mediterranean region but is now widely naturalized throughout tropical and warm climates, including the S United States. It is often cultivated for ornament, and in Europe the stems have been used to make reed instruments, bagpipes, and reed organs. This is the reed from which Pan was fabled to have made his panpipe, or syrinx. The "reeds" of wickerwork are often rattan. Reeds are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Liliopsida, order Cyperales, family Gramineae.

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reed

In botany, any of several species of large aquatic grasses, especially the four species in the genus Phragmites (family Poaceae, or Gramineae). The common, or water, reed (P. australis) occurs along the margins of lakes, fens, marshes, and streams from the Arctic to the tropics. It is a broad-leaved grass, about 5–15 ft (1.5–5 m) tall, with feathery flower clusters and stiff, smooth stems. Bur reed (genus Sparganium) and reed mace (genus Typha) are plants of other families. Dried reed stems have been used for millennia as thatching and construction material, in basketry, for arrows and pens, and in musical instruments (see reed instruments).

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reed

1. any of various widely distributed tall grasses of the genus Phragmites, esp P. communis, that grow in swamps and shallow water and have jointed hollow stalks

2. the stalk, or stalks collectively, of any of these plants, esp as used for thatching

3. Music

a. a thin piece of cane or metal inserted into the tubes of certain wind instruments, which sets in vibration the air column inside the tube

b. a wind instrument or organ pipe that sounds by means of a reed

4. one of the several vertical parallel wires on a loom that may be moved upwards to separate the warp threads

5. a small semicircular architectural moulding

6. an ancient Hebrew unit of length equal to six cubits

7. an archaic word for arrow

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reed

2. the stalk, or stalks collectively, of any of these plants, esp as used for thatching

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Reed

1. Sir Carol. 1906--76, English film director. His films include The Third Man (1949), An Outcast of the Islands (1951), and Oliver! (1968), for which he won an Oscar

2. Lou. born 1942, US rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist: member of the Velvet Underground (1965--70). His albums include Transformer (1972), Berlin (1973), Street Hassle (1978), New York (1989), Set the Twilight Reeling (1996), and The Raven (2003)

3. Walter. 1851--1902, US physician, who proved that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes (1900)